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yorkshirepipe

yorkshirepipe

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 26, 2012
136
0
A couple of years ago it was my sister's wedding so I bought a box of 10 Montecristo No.5s, unfortunately due to the weather we didn't get a chance to smoke them - so I put them in my humidor and saved them for (another!) rainy day. Before leaving my flat for returning home at Christmas I always make sure my humidor is rehydrated. However when I returned after Christmas, 8 of the 9 Montecristo cigars had grown mould!
Naturally I first thought that I made it too humid, but the other 5 or 6 cigars also in there were in great condition. Has anyone had any similar experiences? Maybe I got a bad batch? I emailed the website but they said as it was 2 years since I bought them they couldn't do anything, that's fair enough to me.
Sorry if this is in the wrong section!

 
freakiefrog

freakiefrog

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 26, 2012
745
2
Mississippi
Dumb question and please don't think that I'm questioning your intelligence in regards to cigar care or anything of the nature.. But you're sure it was mold and not bloom? Bloom is a dry white dusty almost moldy looking event that happens when cigars age. The oils come to the top of the wrapper and dry into crystals sometimes evenly some times in spots like a mold would.
Bloom looks like this

plume-on-cigars-2.jpg


bloom1.gif

and mold like this

cigar-mold.gif


cigarmold4.gif


 
yorkshirepipe

yorkshirepipe

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 26, 2012
136
0
I've never heard of bloom, learn something new every day! Unfortunately it was definitely mould. A couple of them that weren't as bad I tried slicing and dicing to use in a pipe tobacco but there wasn't enough of it

 
crk69

crk69

Part of the Furniture Now
Jun 30, 2012
751
1
I haven't had that happen to me yet (knocking on wood very hard) I have around 600 or so cigars in 6 different humidors, and would hate to see what would happen with so many in close proximity of each other. I did have a friend who never really kept his humidor within the safe temperature range (usually 76+ on temp), and had an outbreak of the dreaded cigar beatle. He had to toss his entire stock out, (found too late to freeze them out) and it was a royal pain to finally get rid of them. Sorry for your loss, any cigar is just too expensive these days to have to toss without getting to at least enjoy a portion of it.

 
spartan

spartan

Lifer
Aug 14, 2011
2,963
7
Sorry to hear about your cigars. Would 'airing' them out every other week or so have prevented the moldlaching onto the cigars? Or perhaps it was just too darn humid?
On a side note:
Do people age cigars like we do with pipe tobacco?
Put them in air tight containers with a little air?

 
freakiefrog

freakiefrog

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 26, 2012
745
2
Mississippi
@Spartan yes people will age cigars. Like pipe tobacco they need humidity and air exchange and proper temps. Like pipe tobacco in allot of cases it helps flavors mature and blend well. Even the feel of the cigar on the lips will change with aging..Like pipe tobacco once you try an age cigar you'll wish they all were.

 
crpntr1

crpntr1

Lifer
Dec 18, 2011
1,981
156
Texas
@spartan, usually people have a specific humidor just for aging...a B&M I like in Tyler Tx has 2 walk-in humis for reg stock and a stand up humi by the counter with aged product..boxs labeled (brand/price/aged since xx/xx/xxxx) last time I was in there they had some padron aniversaries from '02

 
lankfordjl

lankfordjl

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 29, 2011
611
2
Texas
Sorry off topic...

@Chris

What is the name of the B&M in Tyler? I enjoy a good cigar once in a while and Tyler is just an hour north of me.

 
yorkshirepipe

yorkshirepipe

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 26, 2012
136
0
Thanks for replies everyone, this is the only time it has happened, although I do keep an eye on them as often as I can now, I have a small travel humidor, which is more for "Special" cigars, mainly ones that I wont be able to get again, or am saving for special occasion.

 
gray4lines

gray4lines

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 6, 2012
679
2
KY
I'd be more worried about beetles if it was too warm, although that could possibly speed up mold growth.
Some cigars are just more mold prone. I have a 150 ct humidor, and just one lone cigar (a Gran Habano Azteca not even near the humidifier) grew a couple of tiny fuzzy dots. I wiped them off and smoked it and inspected for other bad cigars, but there were none. Humidity was 70 or under.
Cigars with cedar sleeves and that come in coffins can mold fairly easily, even when the humidity in not all that high. Otherwise, it's best to leave room around the humidifiers and not overcrowd the humidor. I like using humidity beads too, which hold a very constant humidity and do not themselves grow mold easily.

 
yorkshirepipe

yorkshirepipe

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 26, 2012
136
0
I've pondered about using beads before, may look more into that for Summer. I keep my humidor at 70% as best I can, I'll try keeping it a bit lower and see what the effect is.
High temperatures definitely aren't a problem in my flat, in fact, what would effect would cold have? Our flat is always cold, and being students (typical) we don't like to put our heating on, only if we have gowns on over clothes and can see your breath, then its too cold! :crazy:

 
cigrmaster

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
I kept my cigars at 65 degrees and 62-65 percent humidity for years. My cigars aged beautifully at those numbers and they also smoked great. Cuban cigars are notorious for beetles so anything over 70 degrees is a major risk for outbreak. I also totally disagree about the 70% humidity dogma, 65 is more than enough to keep cigars soft and supple.

 
rlunderhill

rlunderhill

Can't Leave
Jan 10, 2012
407
0
I never bottle up my Cigars tight. I use 69 % as my steady number. I've found over the last 40 years of smoking Cigars, you have to recycle the air in the humidor. The air inside gets stale. The humidor needs to get fresh air. I leave the lid open for 15 minutes and then roll the cigars so the bottoms are up so they get humidity evenly. It's rare when I get any fuss growing on them.
If you store the cigars in an air tight container, open it once a week to get fresh air.

 
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